Improvement in harvesting-machines



ing frame h.

Nirnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

J. M. ORPUT, OF MALTA, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN H'ARVESTINiG-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 33,158, dated August27, 1861.

.To @ZZ wiwi/wit may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMESM. ORPUT, of Malta, in the county of DeKalb andState of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful.

Improvements in Harvesting-Machines; and I do hereby declare thatthefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of thisspecification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

This invention consists ot' a swinging frame that carries the sicklcs atany height that may be desired by the driver of the machine and deliversthe grain into the box of a wagon to which it is attached.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my machine, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation. Figure l of thedrawings is an end elevation, and Fig. 2 is a side elevation, of my saidmachine. Fig. 8 is a detached plan view of the parts by which thesickles are operated, as will be hereinafter more particularlydescribed.

The axle-tree a t of the wagon B is prolonged at one side to carry theframe of the harvester. At the outer end of the axle is tenoned the postc, which is braced by the horizontal beam d to the vertical post e.which is built on the side of the box ofthe wagon. The stay-rodfgsupports the outer end ofthe axle by bracing it to the opposite side ofthe wagon. The horizontal frame 7L of the harvester swings on the axle aand carries the sicklest t', the gathering-wheel 7c, the elevatingendless apron Z, and the apron m, and the machinery by which they areoperated. The lever oz, by which the height of the sickles from theground is graduated, is pivoted in the middle of itslength to the poste, the forward end being furnished with a handle alongside of thedrivers seat, and the hind end with a rod, o, connected to the rear endof the swing- It is also fitted with several pinholes at the centers ofmotion, by which it may be adjusted. The serratedplates or sickles v3 z'have reciprocating motions simultaneously in opposite directions, whichare derived from the spur-wheel 19, placed on one of the Wagonwheels.The wheelp gears into a pinion, q, on thetransverse shaft r, which alsocarries a cam, s, grooved for the reception of the ends of the levers tt, which are supported by the suspension-rods y y, and cross each otherlike a pair of shears at the :Fulcrum u. The grooves. of

the cam s start from nearly the same point on the surface, thencediverge and come together in an elliptical manner, and again. divergeand come together at the point ot' starting. A single revolution of theshaft r thus occasions four transverse motions of each sickle, and themovement of each is always opposite t0 that of the other, so that whenone moves to the right the other moves to the left, and vice versa, thusshearing the grain that may be included between their several points.The pinion q is held in position by the clutch o, which is operated bythe lever w, that passes to the top ot' the machine, where it may bereached by the assistant in the box ofthe wagon. The gathering wheel lcis driven by a crossed belt from the pulley x on the shaft i', whichalso carries the pulleys by which the endless aprons are driven. Thelever w thus controls the movements of all the working parts of theharvester. The frameot1 the machine and the gearing and aprons may bearranged in any suitable inanner; but I prefer the. arrangement shown inthe drawings.

Y The operation of the machine is as follows: As the wagon progressesover the ground, the rotation of the hinder wheel rotates the shaft randoperates the sickles,thegathering-wheel, and the aprons, thegatheringwheel presses the grain down against the sickles, by which itis cut oft", and the elevating-apron carries it up to a heightsufficient to clear the wheel and transfers it to the apron m, by whichit is delivered into the box of the Wagon. The driver may at any timedepress or elevate the sickles by the lever n, as is indicated by thered lines of the drawings, to accommodate them to the variations in theheight ot' the grain; and the operation of the working parts ofthemachine may be stopped by the assistant who trims the grain in the boxby simply uncoupling the pinion q by the lever w.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- Thearrangement of the vibrating frame carrying the cutting apparatus, reel,endless aprons, and gearing upon the axle a, and adjusting the same bymeans of the lever n, substantially in the manner described, and for thepurpose speciiied.

J. M. ORPUT. Witnesses:

ANDREW Axnv, H. C. Axim.

